Written Answers Thursday 15 February 2007

Scottish Executive

2014 Commonwealth Games

Mr Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will welcome the announcement by BBC Scotland that it will be the fifth major sponsor of Glasgow’s bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Patricia Ferguson: I heartily welcome the announcement. The BBC is one of the most respected brands in the world. It is synonymous with the Commonwealth Games and quality sports broadcasting. Such prestigious support is yet another demonstration of the strength of our bid. In addition, the bid continues to receive support from across Scotland. To date over 1.5 million people have signed up to Back Scotland’s Bid.

Antisocial Behaviour

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions there were for antisocial behaviour in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Johann Lamont: The Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 defines antisocial behaviour (ASB) as acting in a manner, or pursuing a course of conduct that causes or is likely to cause alarm or distress to at least one person not of the same household as them. It therefore covers a wide range of offences, some of which are subject to criminal court procedures, and some to civil court procedures.

  Table 4 (a) of the publication Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 2004-05 provides data on the numbers of people convicted of offences that can be considered antisocial, for example vandalism, breach of the peace, fire-raising, drunkenness and other crimes and offences since 1995. This table can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/04/25104019/13. It is not possible to aggregate these figures to local authority level because some sheriff courts serve more than one local authority area.

  The act provides for the use of a wide range of different measures to tackle ASB. Table 1 provides a list of those measures in the act which are subject to court proceedings and whose use can be reported by local authority, together with data on their use over the last two full years.

  Table 2 provides information on proven charges of breach of Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in each sheriff court.

  Table 1. Use of Measures in the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act for Scotland and by Local Authority, 2004 from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2006

  

Measure
1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005
1 October 2005 to 30 September 2006


Scotland
Local Authority or Police Force area totals
Scotland
Local Authority or Police Force area totals


ASBOs on Conviction
34
Aberdeenshire 6,
Dumfries and Galloway 2,
Falkirk 3,
Glasgow 3,
Moray 3,Scottish Borders 16,
West Lothian 1 
31
Angus 1,
Argyll and Bute 1,
Dumfries and Galloway 5,
Dundee City 2,
Glasgow 4,
Highland 1,
North Ayrshire 1,
Renfrewshire 1,
Scottish Borders 13,
South Lanarkshire 1,
Western Isles 1


ASBOs for 12-15 year olds
1
Renfrewshire 1
5
Edinburgh 2,
Dundee 1,
Fife 1,
Midlothian 1.


Closure of Premises 
9
Fife 4,
Lothian and Borders 1,
Strathclyde 1,
Tayside 3
12
Dumfries and Galloway 2,
Fife 4,
Grampian 4,
Strathclyde 1,
Tayside 1


Community reparation orders – piloted in specific areas
26
Dundee 10
Inverness 11
Greenock 5
50
Dundee 13,
Inverness 27,
Greenock 10


Restriction of liberty orders for young people under the age of 16
1
Glasgow 1
3
Dundee 1,
Glasgow 1,
Kilmarnock 1



  Note: Statistics on ASBOs on conviction were originally sourced on the basis of local courts. The ASBOs on conviction data presented in this table has been related approximately to the relevant local authority area. Applications for Closure of Premises orders are signed off by the relevant police force – the figures are therefore collected by police force area and not local authority.

  Table 2. Proven breaches of antisocial behaviour orders.

  Offences of Breach of ASBOs with a Charge Proved, by Sheriff Court, 2000-01 to 2004-05

  

 
Date of Sentence


Sheriff Court
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Aberdeen 
1
15
16
12
34


Airdrie 
-
-
3
2
8


Alloa 
-
-
-
-
-


Arbroath 
-
-
-
2
-


Ayr 
-
-
-
1
1


Cupar 
-
5
1
1
1


Dumbarton 
-
1
-
-
1


Dumfries 
-
-
-
-
2


Dundee 
-
2
4
2
5


Dunfermline 
-
1
5
6
10


Duns 
-
-
-
-
1


Edinburgh 
11
10
6
3
14


Elgin 
-
-
-
-
-


Falkirk 
-
-
-
-
2


Forfar 
-
-
-
-
-


Fort William 
-
-
-
-
3


Glasgow 
-
6
2
1
9


Greenock 
-
-
-
-
1


Haddington 
-
-
-
-
7


Hamilton 
-
-
-
4
6


Inverness 
-
-
-
-
1


Jedburgh 
-
-
-
1
4


Kilmarnock 
-
-
-
-
4


Kirkcaldy 
-
-
10
4
12


Kirkcudbright
-
-
-
-
2


Kirkwall 
-
-
-
-
2


Lanark 
-
-
-
-
1


Lerwick 
-
-
-
-
3


Linlithgow 
-
-
-
-
10


Oban 
-
1
-
-
-


Paisley 
-
-
-
-
2


Peebles 
1
-
-
-
-


Perth 
-
-
-
-
-


Peterhead 
-
2
-
-
-


Selkirk 
-
-
2
2
4


Stirling 
-
-
-
2
3


Stranraer 
-
-
-
-
-


Tain 
-
-
2
-
5


Scotland
13
43
51
43
158



  Source: Scottish Executive Justice Department court proceedings database.

Building Standards

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many actions have been initiated by local authorities in each year since 1997 for alleged breaches of building warrants; how many actions have proceeded to court, and how many have resulted in successful prosecution.

Elish Angiolini QC: In the period April 2002 to March 2006, procurators fiscal received reports in respect of 2 offences relating to breach of building warrants under Section 6(1) of the Building (Scotland) Act 1959. Details are set out in the following table.

  Charges under Section 6(1) of the Building (Scotland) Act 1959

  

 
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Charges Received
1
1
0
0


Charges Prosecuted
1
1
0
0


Charges Convicted
1
1
0
0



  Notes:1. This information has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

  3. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service completed an upgrade of its electronic case management system in April 2002. Only case records created after that date contain complete data which is capable of electronic analysis.

Cancer

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of women were examined by a breast cancer specialist within two weeks of a referral from their general practitioner in each of the last eight quarters.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not available centrally. Cancer waiting times performance information is available from the Scottish Executive website at:  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/cancer/waiting-times .

Civil Servants

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions its civil servants have been given permission to attend the Labour Party conference to carry out departmental business in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: Permanent civil servants are prohibited from attending party conferences in their official capacity, except in rare circumstances when their presence may be required for carrying through essential departmental business unconnected with the conference. Any such attendance will be exceptional and no record is kept of how frequently this happens.

  Special advisers, who are temporary civil servants, are allowed under the terms of their contracts to attend party functions in their own right, but are not allowed to speak publicly at party conferences.

Dentistry

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS dentists there are in NHS Highland and what the average number is of patients per dentist.

Lewis Macdonald: At 30 September 2006, there were 161 1  NHS general dental practitioners in NHS Highland. The average number of registered patients per dentist was 620.

  Source: ISD Scotland.

  Note: 1. The number (headcount) of NHS non-salaried and salaried principals, assistants and vocational dental practitioners in post at 30 September 2006.

Elections

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of proceedings in the case of William Smith v K D Scott, Electoral Registration Officer.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has incurred no legal costs in relation to these proceedings. Information on other costs of the proceedings is not held by the Executive.

Enterprise

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the Intellectual Assets Centre’s total budget was in each financial year since its inception and how much of that budget has been allocated by (a) Scottish Enterprise, (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise and (c) the Executive in each of those years.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is provided in the following table:

  

Allocated by:
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07


Scottish Executive
£286,250
£1,025,000
£1,389,667
£1,394,650


Scottish Enterprise
 
 
£5,875
£16,000


Highlands and Islands Enterprise
 
 
£11,116
£58,750


ERDF
 
£30,604
£142,467
£ 76,086


Total Budget:
£286,250
£1,055,604
£1,549,125
£1,545,486

Enterprise

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have been assisted to protect their assets by the Intellectual Assets Centre in each year since its inception.

Nicol Stephen: The total number of businesses assisted by the Intellectual Asset Centre (IAC) to help protect their assets is 927, broken down by financial year as follows:

  

Year
Businesses Assisted


2006- 31 January 2007
275


2005-06
464


2004-05
146


2003-04
42



  The figures listed only include instances of "one to one" assistance. They do not include businesses attending IAC events or co-events such as seminars and workshops, nor do they include companies making use of the centre’s web-enabled tools or website. Nearly 4,000 businesses/individuals have attended IAC events to-date.

Environment

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to encourage environmental volunteering.

Sarah Boyack: On 5 February, I launched the publication of a report by Jane Dalgleish that considered how the Scottish Executive could help encourage the growth of environmental volunteering in Scotland. I also published a document outlining our response to the issues raised in the report.

  Both documents are available on the Executive’s website.

  I want to see individuals and communities become more active through volunteering, playing their part in improving their own environments.

  We are especially keen to see greater participation, especially from groups in our society not currently represented.

  I am about to set up an implementation group that will take the process forward.

Equal Opportunities

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in respect of enterprise and transport to mark European Year of Equal Opportunities.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive welcomes the "European Year of Equal Opportunities for All" and plans to organise a series of events under this banner over the course of 2007, in addition to the significant work it already undertakes to promote equality and tackle discrimination.

  The Executive’s programme of events has yet to be finalised but will include: a national launch of the European Year; a summer conference; supporting a series of local events, and a final closing conference towards the end of 2007.

  The majority of these events will be cross-cutting in nature, aimed at raising general awareness rather than focussed on specific policy areas such as enterprise and transport. However, they should help to underpin the range of equal opportunities work already being undertaken in these domains.

European Commission

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions it has submitted a response directly to a European Commission consultation in each year since 2003 and to which consultations it responded.

Mr Tom McCabe: Responding to this question involves considerable background investigation. This information is currently being gathered and I will write to you when it is available. A copy of the information will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41906).

European Commission

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions it has participated in European Commission impact assessments in each year since 2003, broken down by subject area.

Mr Tom McCabe: Responding to this question involves considerable background investigation. This information is currently being gathered and I will write to you when it is available. A copy of the information will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41907).

Ferry Services

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to investigate the reasons behind the decision of V Ships to withdraw from the tender to operate the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service.

Tavish Scott: It would not be appropriate to contact V Ships at the present time while the tender process is on-going. However, once the contract has been awarded, officials will offer a debrief to V Ships. This will provide an opportunity to discuss the reasons for the company’s withdrawal and this will inform the review that normally takes place at the end of tender processes.

Ferry Services

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to meet the European Commission to discuss the tender of the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service, any problems faced and the options available for the future provision of the service following the initial six-year contract period and, if so, when it expects such a meeting to take place.

Tavish Scott: The Executive, at ministerial and official level, have met and will continue to meet the European Commission to discuss this and other transport matters.

Ferry Services

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to continue with the current Clyde and Hebrides ferry service and how it will assess the appropriateness of awarding the tender to Caledonian MacBrayne in the absence of any competitor.

Tavish Scott: The European Union’s maritime legislation and state aid rules mean that we must complete the tendering process. A key priority as we do this is that there should be no disruption to the lifeline Clyde and Hebrides ferry services. The new arrangement will, for the first time, introduce a robust contractual arrangement for provision of the services.

Football

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new full-size football pitches have been built since 2003.

Patricia Ferguson: Since 2003, the Executive, through sportscotland, has supported the development of a number of new full-size football pitches including those at the Greenfield Football Centre in Glasgow and the Spartans Community Football Academy in Edinburgh. However, the provision of football pitches is a matter for local authorities and the footballing authorities and the Executive does not maintain a record of football pitches in Scotland.

Forestry

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial penalties were imposed in total on farmers under Common Agricultural Policy support schemes and agri-environment forestry schemes in each year from 1999 to 2006.

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants were penalised under Common Agricultural Policy support schemes and agri-environment forestry schemes in each year from 1999 to 2006.

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of all applicants were penalised under Common Agricultural Policy support schemes and agri-environment forestry schemes in each year from 1999 to 2006.

Ross Finnie: I am not able to answer this question. The relevant information is not held in a manner that is readily accessible so that the answer could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, in the spirit of providing such information as is available within these constraints, I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-31451 on 14 February 2007. The extent of financial penalties applied under the arrangements for the Single Farm Payment Scheme (effective from 1 January 2005) and arising from errors in completing the Single Application Form etc are as follows:

  2005: Total £581,918.98

  2006: Total £676,184.69.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Housing

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to ensure that more affordable rented homes are made available in mid Scotland and Fife.

Rhona Brankin: We have substantially increased our funding to support affordable housing investment across Scotland. The mid Scotland and Fife area is benefiting from this with Communities Scotland planning to invest around £32 million in the current year. This is a 34% increase over the previous year and should result in around 370 new or improved affordable rented homes.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to make a statement on the funding of, and timescale for, second stage transfer of Glasgow Housing Association’s (GHA) housing stock.

Rhona Brankin: Scottish ministers remain committed to extending community ownership in Glasgow. That commitment was further underlined in December when my predecessor wrote to the GHA board setting out a framework for taking second stage transfers forward and re-affirming the intention of achieving some early transfers. With my Deputy Minister, I am in on-going discussion with the GHA board and other key partners about taking this framework forward.

  In the meantime, GHA tenants continue to benefit from the massive investment that stock transfer has released.

Housing

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish local authorities have any statutory obligation, in respect of houses owned by the Ministry of Defence and occupied by members of the armed services, to ensure that they are of a tolerable standard and on a par with local authority and housing association properties.

Rhona Brankin: Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, a Scottish local authority has the statutory power to require that a house owned by the Ministry of Defence be brought up to the tolerable standard, but only if the Ministry of Defence consents to the service of an improvement order in respect of the house. Once the relevant provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 are brought into force, a local authority will have the statutory obligation and power to require that such a house be brought up to the tolerable standard, with no need to seek consent.

  There is no statutory obligation on local authorities to ensure that houses owned by the Ministry of Defence meet the same standards as houses owned by local authorities and housing associations. The Ministry of Defence operates its own four-tier accommodation standard. Although this is not directly comparable to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, we understand that all or the vast majority of service families accommodation meets the criteria defined in the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes were sold by each local authority in each of the last 10 years, also expressed as a percentage of stock in each case and showing (a) national totals and (b) cumulative change over the period.

Rhona Brankin: The table produced for this analysis is too large to be included in this response and has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41881).

Housing

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) private and (b) public sector homes were built in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years, showing (i) cumulative changes over the period and (ii) national totals.

Rhona Brankin: The table produced for this analysis is too large to be included in this response and has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41873).

Ministry of Defence

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance is given to local authorities and other interested parties involved in the housing of, care for and assistance with the employment of former members of the armed services who have been discharged because of injuries received in the course of their duties.

Rhona Brankin: Provision for former members of the armed services on discharge is primarily the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence and it has contributed to the following information.

  No financial assistance is given to local authorities or other interested parties for provision of housing for this specific group. However, entitlement to occupy service accommodation at service rates is extended for a period of 93 days after discharge because of injuries received in the course of duty.

  When service personnel leave the armed forces, responsibility for their healthcare is transferred from the Defence Medical Services to the National Health Service (as has been the case since 1948). Priority treatment of war pensioners is an NHS provision and decisions on the allocation of treatment to individuals are made by the clinician in charge.

  In addition, the Scottish Executive Health Department offered Combat Stress (formerly known as the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society) a total capital grant of £100,000 over 2005-06 and 2006-07, to support Combat Stress’s refurbishment of, and new build at, their Hollybush House care home in Ayrshire, to help them comply with the relevant National Care standards. The Scottish Executive is also providing total revenue grant funding of £54,000 between 2004-2007 to help support the Combat Stress welfare team in its community outreach work.

  Local authorities receive no additional funding in respect of the employment of ex-service personnel. There are, however, several service charities which receive Ministry of Defence and/or other government funding. These charities may choose to spend this funding on employment or training matters but are not required to do so. The Ministry of Defence assists ex-service personnel directly with finding employment including making grants towards training costs. All service members who are medically discharged are entitled to a full package of support offered by its resettlement service, the Career Transition Partnership.

Ministry of Defence

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the quality standard regulations it sets for public sector landlords in relation to domestic properties also apply to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in respect of the houses it provides in Scotland for members of the armed services and, if so, what discussions it has had with the MOD about the improvement or replacement of such housing and what the outcome was of such discussions.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any owners of domestic properties used by military personnel are required to ensure that these properties meet the same quality standards as those set for any public sector landlords.

Rhona Brankin: We understand that service families accommodation in Scotland may be owned by the Ministry of Defence or may be privately rented properties contractually provided to the Ministry. In neither case would the Scottish Housing Quality Standard specifically applicable to Scottish social housing apply. Instead, the Ministry of Defence operates its own four-tier accommodation standard. Although this is not directly comparable to the Scottish Housing Quality Standard, we understand that all or the vast majority of service families accommodation meets the criteria defined in the Scottish Housing Quality Standard.

NHS Hospitals

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which hospitals impose parking charges, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: Hospitals that currently charge for parking are Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, Aberdeen Maternity Hospital and Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin (NHS Grampian), Glasgow Royal Infirmary (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde) Raigmore Hospital, Inverness (NHS Highland), Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, St Johns Hospital at Howden, Livingston, Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh and Western General Hospital, Edinburgh (NHS Lothian), and Ninewells Hospital, Dundee and Perth Royal Infirmary (NHS Tayside).

NHS Hospitals

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which hospitals offer dispensations from parking charges to patients suffering from conditions that require regular hospital treatment, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) nature of dispensation.

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS boards offer dispensations for patients who regularly visit hospital as follows:

  

NHS Hospital
NHS Board
Dispensation for Regular Hospital Visits


Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Grampian
Free


Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital
Grampian
Free


Aberdeen Maternity Hospital
Grampian
Free


Dr Gray’s Hospital, Elgin
Grampian
Free


Raigmore Hospital, Inverness
Highland
Free


St John’s Hospital, Livingston
Lothian
£5 per month from 1 April 2007


Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
Lothian
Currently being developed in line with revised charging from 1 April 2007


Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh
Lothian
Currently being developed in line with revised charging from 1 April 2007


Ninewells Hospital, Dundee
Tayside
Free


Perth Royal Infirmary
Tayside
Free

NHS Hospitals

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it has issued to hospitals in relation to parking charges for patients who require regular treatment, such as cancer sufferers.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive guidance states that "Sufficient car parking space and concessionary car parking rates should be available to staff and consideration should be given to providing concessions to certain categories of patient (e.g. patients attending regularly for dialysis or radiotherapy)".

Police

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional policing costs were incurred by Strathclyde Police in relation to policing and security in and around Oban from 24 to 26 November 2006 and, if so, what those costs were.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30819 on 2 February 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of female prisoners are mothers.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-25930 on 23 May 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Prison Service

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive for what period the Scottish Prison Service anticipates that the position in respect of acting governors at HM Prison Inverness and HM Prison Peterhead will continue; whether the current incumbents will be confirmed in post, and what the reasons are for the position on the matter.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The current incumbents are on temporary promotion. There are no plans to confirm the current incumbents in post. The SPS will run an external recruitment for H Band staff in the near future.

  These positions will be reviewed in due course along with other operational posts.

Prison Service

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many open prisons there are and how many prisoners are held in each.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS Open Estate consists of two sites offering a total of 452 spaces. In addition, HM Prison Cornton Vale offers 24 similar spaces in independent living units, and HM Prison Perth offers a varying number of open-type spaces for young adults at the Friarton site. On today’s date there were 14 prisoners in open conditions at Friarton.

Prison Service

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any open prisons receive prisoners immediately after sentencing and what guidelines exist on the use of open prisons.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Open prisons are used to prepare prisoners for release, and for other prisoners not considered to present a risk. Prisoners must be assessed as requiring only low supervision, and in the case of long-term prisoners to have served an appropriate portion of their sentence.

  Prisoners sentenced to less than four years may serve their sentence in an open prison at the outset if all other criteria are met.

Prison Service

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is for the public sector to bid for the right to build and operate the replacement HM Prison Low Moss.

Cathy Jamieson: As indicated to the Justice 2 Committee on 25 June 2005, a £2 million budget had been allocated to the public sector bid team.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average prison sentence was for (a) violent and (b) non-violent crimes in each of the last five years and what average sentence was served by prisoners in each category who were released in each of these years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The available information relates to non-life sentenced receptions by main crime/offence and is in the following table:

  Average Sentence Length Imposed (Days)

  

 
Non-Sexual Crimes of Violence
All Other Crimes and Offences


2001-02
882
246


2002-03
905
252


2003-04
910
257


2004-05
812
225


2005-06
815
211

Rail Network

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce track access charges for the proposed (a) Edinburgh Airport rail link, (b) Glasgow Airport rail link, (c) Waverley line or (d) Airdrie to Bathgate rail link or for any other rail project under construction or proposed for construction.

Tavish Scott: Transport Scotland plans to ask the Office of Rail Regulation to set an appropriate access charge for all new additions to the rail network This is normal with any addition to infrastructure controlled by Network Rail. Transport Scotland will fund any necessary increase in the First ScotRail franchise subsidy to cover these charges.

Rail Network

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has intimated any view on track access charges on the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail line and, if so, to whom.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has always taken the view that there should be a charge on the new Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway and that the charge should be such as to allow the benefits of the new railway to be shared between the investor and operators using the new railway. This view has been discussed with many bodies since 2001 including the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), the Strategic Rail Authority, Clackmannanshire Council, Scottish Power, Forth Ports, Clydeport and other industry bodies. Most recently we wrote to the ORR in June 2006 asking them to set an appropriate track access charge for the railway.

Regeneration

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how its relocation policy can aid regeneration of town centres.

George Lyon: The Scottish Executive relocation policy is one of a number of policies that can contribute to supporting the development of town centres.

  We continue to consider opportunities for relocation to contribute to town-centre regeneration wherever possible: good examples to date include the location of the Care Commission in the Waterfront area of Dundee, the relocation of the Accountant in Bankruptcy in Kilwinning and the establishment of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd in Port Glasgow.

Roads

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, prior to investment being made in a trunk route, the route must first be designated as a trunk route, even if it were planned that it would subsequently be designated as such; whether ministers have discretion over such a decision, and whether they could award funding to a local authority to secure the upgrading of a road designated as a local road which might subsequently be designated as a trunk route.

Tavish Scott: Transport Scotland’s responsibility is to fund trunk roads and local authorities are responsible for funding local roads. Scottish ministers can by order provide that any existing road, or any road they propose to construct, should become a trunk road.

  The Scottish Executive has powers under Section 70 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 to award grant funding to local authorities to construct or improve local roads, regardless of whether they may be trunked or not at some stage.

Roads

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the need for a new trunk road to replace the existing A82 route connecting to the A9 through Inverness; how and where any new route would cross the river and canal, given that it would require to be to the south of Inverness, and whether it should consider such issues prior to any expenditure being undertaken by the Highland Council to provide a crossing that might otherwise be designed for purely local distributor purposes.

Tavish Scott: Transport Scotland has not undertaken any technical appraisal of the case for replacing the existing A82 trunk route through Inverness.

  Highland Council have invited Transport Scotland to be part of the working group overseeing the Inverness South Connectivity Study which is a Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidelines (STAG) appraisal of the transport options for the Inverness Southern Distributor Road. An official from Transport Scotland is on the working group to represent trunk road interests in relation to the connection between the Inverness Southern Distributor Road and the existing trunk road network.

  British Waterways are also part of the working group and I look forward to them advising me on their conclusions about the crossing of the Caledonian Canal.

  Work being undertaken by Highlands Council is aligned with timescales at a national level for the Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR) which is taking place and due to report in 2008.

Roads

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what priority the Highland Council gives in its roads expenditure programme to the southern distributor road in Inverness.

Tavish Scott: Priorities for the Highland council are a matter for Highland Council.

Roads

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of average speed cameras on the road network.

Tavish Scott: Subject to a successful evaluation of the two year SPECS pilot project on the A77, Transport Scotland will develop a strategy for more widespread use of average speed camera enforcement on the trunk road network. The trial period is due to end in July 2007.

  Transport Scotland is already committed to the more widespread use of average speed enforcement at major trunk road works sites.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Schools

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school playing fields have been sold in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new school playing fields have been opened in each local authority area in each year since 1999.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of producing and distributing SEPA View (a) was in the last year for which figures are available and (b) has been since its inception; how many recipients are on the distribution list, and how many of those recipients are (i) Scottish Environment Protection Agency staff, (ii) Executive staff and (iii) elected politicians.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants were employed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in each of the last six years for which figures are available.

Sarah Boyack: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). I have asked Dr Campbell Gemmell, Chief Executive of SEPA, to respond to the question direct.

Scottish Law Commission

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the Scottish Law Commission to report on its consultation, Personal Injury Actions - Limitation and Prescribed Claims .

Cathy Jamieson: The commission expects to publish its report later this year.

Scottish Law Commission

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Law Commission has accepted submissions from survivors’ groups during its consultation, Personal Injury Actions - Limitation and Prescribed Claims .

Cathy Jamieson: The commission has advised the Executive that it has not received any responses from survivors’ groups to its Discussion Paper on Personal Injury Actions: Limitation and Prescribed Claims .

Sport

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is giving for the development of gymnastics facilities.

Patricia Ferguson: Funding for the development of gymnastics facilities is available through sportscotland’s Building for Sport programme.

Tourism

Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to meet representatives from the St Andrews World Class initiative.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive is aware of the St Andrews World Class group and supports the work they are doing to help make St Andrews a truly world class destination. There are currently no plans to meet with their representatives.

Transport

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all transport projects which have been undertaken since 1999 or are currently planned, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

Tavish Scott: Over 1,000 transport projects have been announced by the Scottish Executive since 1999 – these range greatly in scale and many impact across a number of constituency areas. Projects are generally announced either through the a Scottish Executive or Transport Scotland news release, available from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/ or http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/ , as a ministerial announcement or through the annual reports to Parliament of grants paid under section 70 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (copies of the report are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 22114, 28193, 33166, 36946 and 39974).

Transport

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which transport projects in the Clydesdale parliamentary constituency have received support from the Executive in each year since 1999.

Tavish Scott: The Executive does not hold information on transport projects based on parliamentary constituencies. The range and scale of transport projects in Scotland varies greatly, and may impact over a number of constituency areas. In general projects are announced either, through a Scottish Executive or Transport Scotland news release, available from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/ and http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/ , as a ministerial announcement or through the annual reports to Parliament of grants paid under section 70 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 (copies of the report are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib. numbers 22114, 28193, 33166, 36946 and 39974).

Warm Deal

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating programme and Warm Deal installations have been (a) approved and (b) installed since the operation of the programme transferred to Scottish Gas, broken down by local authority area.

Des McNulty: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Information is not held by local authority area. The total number of Warm Deal and central heating installations approved and installed by Scottish Gas is shown in the following table.

  Warm Deal and Central Heating-Approvals and Installations

  

Central Heating Approved
Central Heating Installed
Warm Deal Approved
Warm Deal Installed


742
1,478
96
112